Frank gets the boot after hypocrisy charge

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was barred from speaking on the House floor Wednesday afternoon after accusing Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) of hypocrisy.

The attack on a fellow member, a no-no on the House floor, was over something the two actually agree on: A GOP-led but bipartisan jobs package set for a vote Thursday.

In theory, the so-called JOBS Act is largely bipartisan and should easily pass the full House when it comes up for a vote on Thursday. It even has the Obama administration's seal of approval.

But here’s the back story: One of the bills in the JOBS Act is sponsored by Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) and rolls back a requirement that smaller banks register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Democrats have been quick to point out — repeatedly — that the bill looks awfully similar to one backed by Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) that already passed the House, 420-2, in November.

Frank raised that again on Wednesday as he and Hensarling led floor debate on the JOBS Act.

“What happened?” Frank said from the House floor. “Apparently the Republican leadership decided it was Christmas in March so they stole the bill from [Rep. David] Schweikert and Mr. Himes and made a present of it to the gentlemen from Arizona, Mr. Quayle.”

Frank’s referencing Schweikert – like Quayle, a freshman Arizona Republican – was extra salt in the wound: Schweikert and Quayle are locked in a primary battle for a suburban Phoenix-area district.

And Frank – never to be wishy-washy – wasn’t about to stop.

“I have been here for 31 years,” the retiring lawmaker continued. “I am about not to be here anymore. I have thought very much about what I am about to say. That’s shameful. Shameful on the part of the Republican leadership that engaged in this cheap maneuver. Shameful on the part of a member who would be the beneficiary of it. I am deeply disappointed.”

Hensarling – retorting that no one cares about the “John Grisham novel of intrigue” over who should or should not get accolades for drafting the bill – was not having any of it.

“President Reagan once said, it doesn't matter who get this is the credit,” the Texan responded. “It seems like our friends on the other side are saying, ‘if we don't get credit, we're going to pick up our toys and go home.’”

That seemed to rile up Frank even more.

“I have never seen truth stood on its head more rapidly than my colleague from Texas,” Frank said. “This notion that who cares about credit … if that were honestly what the Republican leadership believed, why did they take the credit from Mr. Schweikert and Mr. Himes and give it to Mr. Quayle?

“It is they who engage in this credit-grabbing,” Frank added, calling Hensarling’s comments the “most hypocritical and dishonest statement I have heard in this House.”

At that point, Hensarling, having clearly taken umbrage, asked for Frank’s words to be taken down. After several minutes, they were ultimately stricken from the official record.

Under House rules, Frank was barred from speaking on the floor for the rest of the afternoon because his remarks were stricken. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who is second in seniority among Democrats on the Financial Services panel, had to take over for the silenced Frank.